I finally dragged my fanny up Dark & Early this morning, although not so early (6:00 a.m. instead of 5:00 a.m.). Sadly, that’s the earliest I’ve been able to get up for weeks. This time of year just kills me. Plus my cold worsens. I actually lost my voice tonight and sound like I ate sandpaper for dinner.

I had to be a hardass with myself today. Why? Because I WANT THE BRIGHT SHINY. So I told myself I had to write x words first on Return, and then I could work y minutes on the other. It let me get a modest word count this morning, spend a little time over lunch on the new idea, and then tonight while cooking dinner, I continued working on Return. The back and forth approach let me get quite a bit done on both. The trick is managing my obsessive tendencies.

Today: 2,172

NaNo Total: 93,665

Snippet: The beginning of big surprise #1 of this climax. Mykal just realized he’s in even deeper shit than he thought.

“Dragons will occasionally bring kills to the female they’re attempting to woo,” Mykal said, his voice flat. “One of the tals attempts to win the White Dragon’s favor. This man refused your will, and now he’s dead. He’s a gift.”

His bond felt tight and withdrawn, singing with alarm that only grew with intensity. Lightly, she stroked his cheek and he flinched, his gaze jerking toward hers. “What is it? I know you had no part in this.”

“It’s a very deliberate message.” He licked his lips, fighting to keep his gaze on hers. “Someone knows who I used to be.”